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The creation of sound school-family-community partnerships is being widely acknowledged as it strengthens school programs, family practices, student learning and behavior, as well as development. Active participation of parents and communities in the school tends to reduce the traditional unidirectional accountability of teachers as a sole party responsible for learners’ success. Furthermore, such collaboration is said to cultivate new hope about schools and education, especially among rural communities. However, key stakeholders in education claimed that school-family-community partnerships were weak in primary schools in Kakamega County, Kenya (Ministry of Education (MOE), 2010). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study was designed to generate relevant empirical evidence. The study was guided by the Social Capital Theory (Field, 2003; Horvat et al., 2003; Coleman, 1994; Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992) whose central thesis is that social networks are a valuable asset, as interaction enables people to build communities, commit themselves to each other, and knit the social fabric. Using stratified random sampling, a sample of 361 primary school teachers in 34 schools drawn from a population of 8,964 teachers in 848 primary schools, cutting across the 12 districts in the county, was involved in the study. A questionnaire was developed and used to collect the teachers’ views of school-family-community partnership practices in the schools. The data generated were analyzed and presented by means of such descriptive statistics as frequencies, percentages, and the mean.

The findings revealed gaps with respect to collaboration among schools, families, and the community as the key focus in this study. Results indicated that the school-family-community partnerships in the county remained at a transactional rather than a transformational level. In light of the findings, relevant policy recommendations were proposed to improve practice, with particular attention to providing meaningful professional learning as well as desirable student outcomes.

This is one of the largest county-level studies in Kenya directly addressing teacher-family partnerships and illuminating the ways in which schools can build internal capacity for effective family engagement.

Recently with increased legislative support and evidence-based studies on the importance of education for children with disabilities in China, special education programs and intervention and rehabilitation services have received more and more attention. There are limited studies on special education programs for children with disabilities located in China’s rural areas. This paper aims to select one special education program in China’s northeast rural area with a special focus on its curriculum design, accommodative services and teacher qualifications. Recommendations were provided on how to modify the curriculum to meet each child’s special needs, increase social interaction among children, increase teacher qualifications and improve teacher family collaboration.

The participating program serves orphans and children with disabilities between 6 and 18 years old and provides them 9-year free education, along with free textbooks, uniforms, food and boarding. Currently, there are approximately 100 students and 40 teachers, one director and one nurse. The teacher/staff and student ratio is 1:3. Data were collected through classroom observation and interviews. Afterward, the interview data were transcribed. Data were analyzed following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step approach. The researcher reviewed the collected data, then coded the data and reviewed, refined and revised the codes, and finally themes and sub-themes were identified with quotations that support each theme/sub-theme.

The identified themes are accommodations, education plan and curriculum and teacher qualifications. Accommodations include, but are not limited to, visual and hearing aids. National unity textbooks were adopted, along with national syllabus objectives, as a guideline for instruction and evaluation of child progress. Teachers also adjust curriculum-based students’ individual needs. All teachers hold an associate degree in special education, and those who teach specials hold a higher degree in the specialty area. Given that there is no speech language pathologist, physical therapist, or occupational therapist, teachers with rich working experiences in the related field serve as special professionals.

The current research reports the program design, accommodations for children with disabilities, curriculum and syllabus, parent/guardian role and teacher qualifications in the selected school. Given that the current study focuses on only one school located in the rural area of China’s northeast, it may represent special education programs in rural China, but it is hard to be generalized to provide a big picture of China’s special education programs in more developed, metropolitan areas.

The selected school offers accommodative services to students with disabilities; adjusts its curriculum to make it developmentally appropriate; and offers educational, medical and rehabilitation services to promote student development to the maximum. The selected school should improve teacher quality, increase social interaction between children with and without disabilities, modify the curriculum to cater to individuals with different severities of disabilities and increase family professional collaboration.

There is limited study on special education programs for young children with disabilities in China’s rural area. The current study fills this gap and studies a special education school that offers services to children as young as six years old located in a small town in the northeast of China. The special focus of the study includes program curriculum, accommodations, rehabilitation and intervention services and teacher qualifications in this program.

Creating inclusive schools for students with disabilities is a major leadership responsibility for principals throughout the world. Each national, regional and local context is different, but every principal can help create and support inclusive schools. The purpose of this article is to describe the evolving context of inclusive education and school leadership in the United States aligning what is known to an established leadership framework (Hitt and Tucker, 2016), as there are similarities between the Hitt and Tucker domains and the work of leaders in inclusive schools. The authors emphasize that inclusive leadership is consistent with existing conceptualizations of principals' work. The authors consider specific policies and organizational conditions that support inclusive schools and highlight successes and continuing challenges for principals that can be applied throughout the world.

This paper utilizes an exploratory approach to review the US policy-related and empirical literature on school leadership for effective inclusive schools. The authors draw across time from research syntheses in school and inclusive leadership from leading journals in educational leadership, special education and edited volumes focused on school leadership. The authors analyze common themes centered on leadership practice, organizational and social conditions and challenges.

The research review identified effective leadership practices that support inclusive education in the United States and provides a critical discussion of how these findings relate to international research and practice.

The paper considers the relevance of national policy contexts coupled with a review of school leadership for inclusive schools that is insightful for policymakers and practitioners seeking to create more inclusive schools throughout the world.

The paper offers a situated review of leadership for inclusive schools in the United States. As such, this review lays the foundation for a comparative and international conversation on school leadership for inclusion.

The purpose of this paper is to explore ways teachers undergoing induction via the Career Advancement and Development of Recruits and Experienced (CADRE) Teachers Project felt empowered and supported in their well-being through mentoring and coaching.

Surveys about CADRE Project impact were e-mailed to 675 current and former participants. Out of 438 surveys returned, researchers used homogeneous sampling to identify 341 teacher respondents. Researchers used qualitative thematic analysis to determine ways teachers felt supported.

Coaching and mentoring supported CADRE Project participants’ well-being through empowerment (theme). Sub-themes included: growth, collaboration, networking, improvement and resources.

Possibilities for future research include exploring the role of mentors/coaches, tracking teachers’ leadership roles and investigating the link between induction and teacher retention in more detail.

Opportunities for growth and collaboration are cornerstones of first-year teacher support. These support systems can lead to a sense of belonging, develop a mindset for continuous improvement and create long-term networking opportunities. The support teachers need to empower them and maintain their well-being changes with each first-year teacher phase.

Few studies exist on induction programs with the longevity of the CADRE Project. The high survey response rate with overwhelmingly positive responses suggests that CADRE is unique in its support of beginning teachers’ well-being through the first-year teacher phases, specifically due to the combination of mentoring and coaching beginning teachers receive.

In empirical research and practitioner guides, turnaround processes tend to be described in terms of discrete stages and strategies. Though necessary, this characterization belies the twists and turns of turnaround leadership. The purpose of this paper is to expand the assumptions of how turnaround proceeds in linear chronos time with the sensibilities of kairos time or the “right” time for turnaround leadership moves.

This study is an exploratory qualitative multi-case study with principals and their key supports (assistant principals, district leaders, teacher leaders) in four public turnaround schools. The grounded theory analysis conceptualizes the experiences of turnaround principals in flexible, complex ways.

The findings begin with a metaphor and definition of “shifting gears” at chronos and kairos times that emphasizes how turnaround principals make adaptive, agentic adjustments when moving forward through changing terrain. The second half of findings describes each principal’s experiences and reflections on their discernment of the right times for change within a chronological trajectory of turnaround. In addition, the leaders described shifting gears as strategic and responsive to contexts, sometimes taking a psychological toll.

Expanding notions of time in turnaround re-centers turnaround leaders as engaging in intellectually and emotionally demanding work. Such recognition challenges future research to address experiences and emotions in dynamic contexts. Hence, with this study, preparation programs and state and local systems may adjust holistic supports and leadership pipelines to sustain turnaround leaders.

School improvement planning and implementation is one organizational process by which principals may positively impact school and student outcomes. Limited research, however, has explored how principal preparation programs prepare aspiring leaders for this common school leadership activity. This study examined aspiring principals engaged in the school improvement process by evaluating what they included in their school improvement plans (SIPs) that were developed as part of their field experience.

The authors examined SIPs aspiring principals collaboratively developed as part of their field experience. Using an abductive analysis method, combining both deductive and inductive coding methods, authors examined 77 SIPs in which aspiring principals used school level data in planning.

Each aspiring principal's SIP was contextually specific. No two plans were identical relative to who was targeted for improvement and how the plan was to be implemented, indicating aspiring principals can apply course-based learning and implement important data-driven decision-making skills in field-based school improvement projects.

Findings are exploratory and limited to SIPs developed by aspiring principals in one university program in one large urban school district context. The findings that specific requirements and program structures affected the aspiring principal's school improvement planning process as did the overall school context adds to current understandings of how course-based learning is applied. However, further investigations are needed.

Findings provide evidence of how school leadership preparation programs may impact leadership development relative to skills associated with school improvement planning. The findings also suggest the importance of detailed analysis of aspiring principals school improvement planning as a program evaluation process.

This study was the first to document the content of aspiring principals' field-based SIPS and how skills in data-driven decision-making were applied in a SIP field-based activity.

Applications for tracking and managing classroom behavior have become increasingly commonplace, thus making it possible to incorporate nonacademic data into collaborative problem-solving and school improvement. Whether or how these platforms might support such aims, however, is not known. Accordingly, this study explores practices involving these applications, focusing especially on problem-solving among educators and with students' families.

This comparative case study took place in three schools. In total, 34 semistructured interviews were conducted with teachers and school leaders. Analysis included qualitative coding as well as the development of within- and cross-case summaries.

Schools varied greatly when it came to using behavior management platforms as a part of problem-solving. At a basic level, it was not uncommon for educators to use behavioral data for classroom troubleshooting or check-ins with students and transactional communications with families. However, only two schools attempted to use behavioral data for more systemic, “big picture” problem-solving, such as to make discipline policies more equitable or to improve teacher practices. The richness of collaboration with families seemed especially shaped by how and how frequently data were shared (e.g. automated notifications and paper printouts).

Empirical research about behavior management applications has been limited and focused only at the classroom level. The present study contributes new knowledge about the school-level implications of these platforms, while also expanding conversations about how behavioral data may be incorporated into data-informed problem-solving. Implications for leadership and theory are also discussed.

Emerging research demonstrates that the community school model holds promise for meeting the needs of families by improving academic and social-emotional outcomes for students and strengthening communities. In this model, school leaders play an integral role in building relationships among multiple stakeholders, cultivating community partnerships and developing democratic decision making. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the community school coordinator (CSC) as a school leader who carries out all of her/his work in collaboration with students, teachers, school administrators, families and community partners.

Findings in this single qualitative case study are based on multiple data sources that include semi-structured interviews (n=29) of stakeholders (families, partners and educators), participant observations of partnership meetings and school events, and document analysis.

Data analysis shows how the CSC leads and facilitates professional capital among multiple school and community stakeholders. Findings are organized into three themes: the CSC as bridge-builder who connects and promotes trusting relationships with multiple stakeholders; the CSC as collaborator who fosters joint work and a sense of collective responsibility; and the CSC as leader who supports the emergence of decisional capital.

Given the nascent literature on the role of CSCs, this case study provides insight into the leadership role of the CSC as builder of professional capital. The research informs practice by providing an example of how one community school made a strategic investment in a leadership role intended to design and develop a culture of professional collaboration.

This study analyses the barriers and facilitators for the educational inclusion of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the perspective of their teachers.

A qualitative methodology was applied, specifically a multiple case study from which 24 in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers who had worked previously with students with ASD. The participants were Spanish teachers from different educational stages (from early childhood education to baccalaureate) and with different roles (ordinary classroom teachers and support teachers).

The results show that collaboration amongst teachers, their attitudes, the way of understanding the supports, the creation of collaboration between students and the organisation of both the school and the classroom are important for the inclusion of students with ASD. The analyses and discussion of the facilitators for the inclusion of these students are especially relevant, since they provide useful guidance for teachers who want to respond to the right of these students to an inclusive education.

The limitations and future research lines of this study are related to the logic of amplitude and depth, respectively. Regarding amplitude, the authors highlighted the importance of gathering the voices of professionals committed to the development of more inclusive practices; however, the authors also identified the need to expand the listening to the voices of teachers who do not have such experience. This raises a possible future research line: to explore how to reach teachers with no experience in inclusive education in order to contribute to the transformation of their practice.

There is extensive knowledge within the classrooms, which the authors aimed to demonstrate in this study, with the hope that others can learn from it. The obtained results are useful to every teacher who wishes to create an inclusive school. In agreement with the consideration of inclusive education as a process, this investigation identified strategies and resources that facilitate the learning and participation of students with ASD, as well as barriers that must be tackled to advance in this regard.

The authors aimed to contribute to understanding the advances in the development of the right to inclusive education. To this end, the authors gathered the voices of teachers (those from the ordinary classroom and those considered “support teachers”) from regular schools that welcome students with ASD and which had a history of commitment to the development of more inclusive education. There is extensive knowledge within the classrooms, which the authors aimed to demonstrate in this study, with the hope that others can learn from it. The obtained results are useful to every teacher who wishes to create an inclusive school.